New Heylite creating many air bubbles????

[wolterch]

I have just recently upgraded my light to the Corallife 490 watts Heylites.
My entire established reef tank is all out of ballance, and even after a waterchange the water looks brown and dirty.
There are also a lot of air bubbles laying on the rocks and glass by the end of the day, which I am worried that it will turn into bubble Algea.
I have 4 tangs, Emerald crabs, hermet crabs and about a dozen snails in a 72 Gallon Bow front..
Any suggestions would be appreciated, the coral is also Sliming a lot which in my opinion may have something to do with the change of water temp from AM to PM (78f-80f).
Have any of you dealt with this before.

Thanks
Wolter.

 

[jessezm]

The temperature swing is not severe enough to cause problems, in my opinion. I think maybe the 4 tangs in a 72 gallon tank might have something to do with it, though. You report bubbles on the rocks and glass, and in another post mention that the rocks are browning. It sounds like a cyano outbreak to me, due in part to new intense lighting and an excess of nutrients. The sliming or the corals could be a reaction to the new lights or also to the cyano (if that's what it is), which can be a bit toxic.

What kind of tangs are they and how big are they? Even one tang in a tank that size could be stretching it in the eyes of many.

What type of filtration do you have, how much live rock, and how old is the tank? What were the lights you had before you switched to metal halides?

Sounds like you could have a several things working against you... Have you been using RO/DI water for water changes and evaporation top-offs?

What are your nitrate, ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate levels? pH? Alk/KH?

 

[vettesarebest]

I would second what Jessezm said about four tangs being a little bit overboard. I also second that this is most likely Cynobacteria. If your tank has not been set up for long than my guess would be Diatoms. From what it sounds like though it has been set up for a while.

 

[wolterch]

The Tangs have been in the tank for about 5 years now and I only lost one yellow tang in that time.
Now I have a Naso, Sailfin, Purple and Regal Tang.
Never had a problem with toxens from them.
I did recently turn over some liferock wich of course was white at the bottem and is now turning into a nasty light, rusty brown, which will turn eventually purple like the other rock.
80 lbs of life rock
Nitrate and nitrite is a little hight right now but I did a water change two day ago and the water does not look any better yet.
The UV only works at night to keep the temp down, since I don't have a chiller yet.
The light before the halides were powercompacts 4x65 watts with moonlights.So I would think the change is dramatic.
The coral seems to react fine to the new light, but occasionally sliming, from the mushrooms and Candy coral.
I always use RO to top of the tank Which is a non drilled Sump system in the cabinet below.
I did recently to fit the Halides remove a secondary hang on the back system (tetra wave maker system) I kept that so long because it increased the water flow and filtration.( that may have something to do with it))
I will do research on Cyano and I will let you know.
I appreciate your input.
Wolter.

 

[vettesarebest]

I'd say just one tang especially a sailfin is too much for that tank.

 

[tsciarini]

Flipping the liverock is what triggered your issues.... you've basically forced your tank to cycle (which explains the NO2, NO3) and the diatoms.
For the health/safety of the inhabitants, IMO, I would do small waterchanges every few days to keep the levels in check but do realize that youre going to stress the system and slow down the process while doing this.

 

[wolterch]

I know the discussion has gone from airbubbles and unclear water to having too many Tangs in there, but I've had them in there for over 4 years and they all seem very happy and healthy, so it would be a real co-incedence if they all the sudden create the problem.
I noticed this morning when just the blue lights were on the airbubbles had dissapeared, I will let you know how it looks like tonight.

Have any of you heared about Calcium stones which you put in the bottem of your sump, and it will provide you with a month of perfect Calcium levels.
Pet Showcase in Hiram had reccomended it to me,
Thanks for any input.
Wolterl.

 

[tsciarini]

the "air bubbles" are nitrogen (caused by the new cycle)

 

[vettesarebest]

I do not think the tangs caused the problems. I don't know what caused the problem..... But I do agree with Tony that the flipping of the live rock definatly casued it. What happend was this killed the other side of the live rock that had been exposed to the light. Then this dying bacteria and organisms caused an outbreak in nuissience bubbles/ Nitrogen

 

[wolterch]

Great advice ..
Is the best way to resove that Time and Waterchanges???
I flipped about 3 rocks and epoxied about 3 frags to it.
I stopped feeding the Tangs so they can do more of what they supposed to do,,,Eat the algea.
Thanks a lot
Wolter.:thumbs:

 

[tsciarini]

wolterch wrote: Is the best way to resove that Time and Waterchanges???

Yeah... basically. Rearranging the aquascaping is one of those things that is often overlooked as far as risks go; but a very important lesson learned. Good luck with the tank and keep us updated with the progress. We all love pictures here so how about a few shots of your tank?

...oh btw, Welcome to the ARC!!! :welcome:

 

[wolterch]

I appreciate it Tony I will probably Join as a member real soon.

I will upload some decent pictures, and will take some new ones once this clears.
Wolter.

 

[tsciarini]

Awesome! Be sure to make it out to the

 

[wolterch]

I would love to life permitting.
the only thing I did not see on the link is when the meeting is in February.
Let me know when it is, and if it is in the link I did not see it.
thanks
Wolter.

 

[glxtrix]

The meetings are always the 2nd Tuesday each month at 7:30 PM

 

[kappaknight]

Okay, one last comment about the tangs... 4-5 years is a good time and I'm sure health wise they're fine... but fish do grow as with everything else so it may not hurt to trade a bigger one for a smaller one sometime down the road.

As for the bubbles, they appear during the day after having interacted with the lights... they usually will disappear overnight; I've had it happen to me before too.

 

[wolterch]

I checked it out this morning. Is it possible that Air bubbles turn into Bubble algea or is it the same????
If it is bubble algea what to treat it with? I already have the emerald crabs and the Naso Tang.
That is a good suggestion concerning the Tangs, If I do that I will have to do all 4 at the same time because the largest Tang will beat the crap out of the smaller Tang.
Over the weekend I will upload some closeup pictures of the Bubbles on my life rock and maybe it will clarify the situation a bit more
Thanks for your help.
Wolter

 

[tsciarini]

pics would definately be a help...

 

[wolterch]

I left the Halides off for one day, and came to find out that at the end of the day there were no airbubbles in the water.
When I purchased the light I removed a secondary hang on the back filter system( the Tetra Wave maker).
I let my sump do all the work, should be ok.
But Sunday I figured out a way to get the secondary system back on there, and it seems to help, Only time will tell.
I don't understand why the airbubbles dissapeared when I left the Halides off??. I know the water temp stayed steady at 78 degrees instead of working it's way up to 80 or even 81.
Looks like a chiller is the next thing I need to buy, anyone know where I can get a deal on one?
Thanks for all the input.
wolter

 

[jessezm]

The bubbles didn't form because they are a bi-product of the cyanobacteria's photosynthetic processes. No light=no photosysnthesis. At least that's what I think...

your system will just need a little time to start competing again with the cyano's food source. Obviously, light is a major source, but not something that your corals can go without either. other algae and beneficial bacteria are slower to compete for nutrients but will catch up eventually, granted you are taking other preventive measures including good circulation/water flow, physical removal of cyano, other means of nutrient export (e.g. macro algae in a sump or refugium on it's own light cycle), etc.